KitchenAid Cook for the Cure

Last night, I went to a party that this friend of mine at work held, a benefit to raise funds for Breast Cancer research. Kitchenaid has a program, that they call Cook for the Cure, whereby you hold a party, invite people to come, the only stipulation is that guests don't bring gifts, instead they donate money. Kitchenaid donates $50 towards the total, and, if someone at the party holds their own Cook for the Cure party, Kitchenaid will donate another $50 towards the first party's total. I think this is a great idea, that is championed by the cook Christine Cushing on Food Network. Details can be found here.

The party itself was interesting. To raise a little more money, they had a poker game going, people buy $10 in chips, and give half of their winnings towards the cause. The hostess, my friend from work, cooked up a storm, everything was quite delicious. Starting off, she served Satay chicken on skewers with peanut sauce dip; next came Shrimp. Following this was lamb on a skewer with a cube of feta cheese and a cherry tomato. There were vegetarian Spring rolls and Spinach samosas. The best of the appetizers served was, in my opinion, rare beef tenderloin with a peach slice infused with saffron on an endive boat. I deserve some of the credit for that, we discussed this at work, trying to decide what to add with the beef tenderloin. I suggested something sweet. It worked out well. Talking about sweets, there were brownie lollipops, walnut brownies cut into circles, stuck on a lollipop stick and then dipped in dark chocolate. Also, there was a dish called Sex in a Pan, essentially unsalted saltine crackers in alternate layers with whipped cream, then cherry pie filling on top. This is made five days ahead of time to allow time for the crackers to absorb some moisture, so that you don't even realize they are crackers any more. There was also round carrot cakes made to resemble breasts in honour of the evening.

I must say, the evening was good, normally I don't go to parties, but I thought it was for a good cause, and it might be interesting, and perhaps there would be someone interesting to meet. Most of the people I had not met before, and didn't really talk to, but I found the host and hostess's relatives quite interesting and talked to them for a long while. I was one of the first to arrive, and one of the last to leave.